


Calling Home

by empty_battlefield



Series: A Slice of Sadstuck [5]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Library, Awkward Romance, Awkwardness, Chronic Illness, F/M, Hopeful Ending, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Other, Social Anxiety, Trolls on Earth, Tutoring, troll sickle cell anemia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-27 20:06:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10044842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empty_battlefield/pseuds/empty_battlefield
Summary: College student Kankri Vantas--5 hours away from home--cannot contain his anxiety when his father calls to tell him that his little brother Karkat is in the hospital.Aranea, crushing hard, finds herself exceeding the job requirement of an English tutor as she tries her best to ease his nerves.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a sequel to **Day Off at the Vantas House.** It is the previous installment of the Slice of Sadstuck series. However, both stories **can be read independently.**

"So essentially, in the story, the bird acts as a symbol for..."

Kankri Vantas was sitting in the library with his classmate Aranea Serket. He hated being tutored—it was incredibly demeaning, and he never would have accepted help if he weren't failing college English. Aranea's ongoing explanations about this week's short story were making up for all the times the two had _never talked_ in the past freshman year. 

Kankri would have fallen asleep right there on the table if he didn't care about being rude. Aranea was a nice girl—he didn't want to hurt her feelings by seeming disinterested. He wanted to say something to prove he was listening. "And therefore by the same logic, the cage symbolizes her being trapped?"

"Exactly. Yeah," she replied.

Before Aranea could launch too far into another explanation, Kankri's phone buzzed. Not with it pithy text, but a call. Nobody called Kankri, for obvious reasons.

"It's my father—I'm sorry, I have to take this," Kankri answered, stumbling over his lanky legs as he tried to get out of the table. Aranea looked miffed, then nodded demurely. Kankri left the room. 

Aranea pulled down the hem of her dress and adjusted the book on her lap. She liked Kankri Vantas a lot. He was intelligent and kind. She knew most people found her boring. Kankri seemed to have the same problem. He was often verbal during class discussion—most of their classmates just zoned out while he was talking.

But Aranea liked to listen. 

She tugged on an awkwardly short lock of her hair, one of the pieces in the front. She had never dated anyone in her life. Everybody knew her as Meenah's wing girl. Kankri was lending her his ears tonight, and she hoped to prove she could measure up to him. She _wanted_ him to think she was insightful. Before he left the room, he seemed to be dying of boredom while she was talking. She really hoped that this tutoring arrangement could be the springboard to a lot of meaningful conversations in the future, and maybe—

But no. _Don't get ahead of yourself,_ Aranea scolded herself internally. _Shit, he's coming back._

Kankri returned to the table, cell phone held tightly in his stiff hand. His eyes were staring at the floor—he seemed shaken and anxious. He gingerly sat back down without saying anything. Aranea paused for an awkward moment until she realized this as her cue to resume the lesson.

Aranea continued her spiel about the symbolism, stealing glances at Kankri as often as she could.

Kankri didn't notice her looking. He was far too preoccupied with the billions of thoughts now swimming around his head and making him dizzy. The current situation overwhelmed his desire to care about stupid English anymore. 

"Kankri..." 

"Huh?" He jerked his neck to face her.

"Uh, we can finish this tomorrow, if you want," Aranea said, closing the textbook. Her voice was small. "It's okay if you're tired, I don't mind, and it's getting late anyway."

Kankri's attention was brought back to the library. He mentally slapped himself for not having heard a word she'd been saying since he returned to the table. "Sorry. No, let's get it done today," Kankri said rather abrasively, opening the book in her hands. "I'm not _that_ tired, and there's only a page left. I'm alright to finish."

Aranea grew hot as his fingers brushed hers. _Stop it._

"Sorry," Aranea apologized. She didn't even really know what she was apologizing for. "I'll try to make this quick—people say that I'm really boring to listen to."

"Heh. People say the same thing about me," Kankri replied. Aranea refrained from saying _I know._ Meenah hated it when she said that. 

"You seem pretty quiet right now," she remarked instead. She added softly, "Everything OK?"

Kankri let out a nervous huff. "Well, I, uh—" he struggled to know how to even begin—"I just got off the phone with my Dad, back on the east coast...He was calling to let me know that Karkat—uh, that's my little brother—that he went to the hospital again."

"Oh my God," Aranea said, "What—what happened?"

Kankri was a bit flustered by her show of concern. "I mean, I don't know what you've heard about my brother from other people..." he trailed off. 

"I didn't even know that you had one," Aranea said. She rarely gossiped and it was annoying that she was always the last to know stuff. She added, "Nobody tells me anything."

"Oh—well, he suffers from anemia—sickle cell," he said shortly, and Aranea nodded knowingly. "And it's not like he hasn't been hospitalized before—but I'm here and he's there and there's nothing I can do about it. Dad says it's not worth it that I fly back and see him, but, I'm just—I don't know."

"Worried?" Aranea filled in softly. He nodded slowly. "Oh—Kankri, I had no idea. I'm so sorry. Maybe you could call your brother? And talk to him to ease your nerves?"

Kankri shook his head sadly. "I already asked Dad if he would put Karkat on. He said he was sleeping. Which I understand totally, the kid needs his rest. Plus the time zone gap means it's like one in the morning there..." He trailed off again. "I'm not nervous though," he said. "Just tired and disappointed."

Kankri wished he could let Aranea know exactly how off-the-wall _hysterical_ he felt inside. He felt like ripping his own hair out. He wasn't tired. He couldn't sleep if he _tried_. But she couldn't know. She wouldn't be kind. He didn't want this poor girl to be sitting next to him right there in the library while he wheezed uncontrollably into a paper bag —she'd never want to tutor him again. 

"Oh," she replied. Aranea wanted desperately to say something helpful. "Do you live in dorm 14? We could walk back together if we're in the same building. And you can meet me tomorrow morning, if you like, so we can finish this."

Kankri's face grew hot as the two of them gathered their stuff to leave. "I'm sorry, you don't have to do that," he said. "I don't want to inconvenience you and your schedule."

"It's no inconvenience,” she replied brightly, shoving a book into her backpack. "My first class doesn't start till ten, so..."

"Oh. Thanks," Kankri said. He slung his messenger bag over one shoulder and held the door open for her as they exited. She had been so understanding—the least he could do to repay Aranea was be chivalrous. 

It was dark outside, despite the streetlights. It was a short walk from the library to the dorm, but Kankri was anxious still. It could have easily been his nerves. But he was worried that he and his slight frame would fail to protect the two of them in the city at night. 

"Do you usually return to your dorm this late?" Kankri asked.

"Not really," Aranea replied. She added, "Not without Meenah."

Aranea could hear his smirk in the dark. "Has she ever pulled a shank on anybody?"

Aranea chuckled. "No. But she taught me how to use pepper spray."

Kankri laughed. He pulled out a string from the inside of his turtleneck sweater, and a silver whistle faintly gleamed at the end. 

A smile played on Aranea's delicate features. "I guess we're pretty much covered then, in terms of safety?"

"Yep. And we don't even have to weigh 250 pounds put together."

Aranea let out a giggle, and Kankri smiled down at her. _He's witty too,_ she thought to herself. It made the fact all the more painful that Kankri had sworn himself off quadrants. 

The pair eventually reached the dormitory building. Aranea usually took the elevator, but Kankri immediately headed for the stairs, so she simply followed him. Neither of them said anything as they climbed. When Aranea stopped at the third floor and Kankri had to continue to the fourth, he said to her, "So I'll see you tomorrow before class? About English?"

"Yeah. Have a nice night."

"Take care."

Kankri climbed to the fourth floor. He felt OK about Karkat now. Like he could maybe make it through the night and actually wait till the morning to call him. He felt himself safe with Aranea. And not just because the girl carried Mace.

* * *

"Are we almost done?"

"No—there's still a few more themes we should probably talk about," Aranea replied. It was the next morning, early—and Aranea was with Kankri in the library again. "I'm sorry—have I been too long winded?"

"A little," Kankri said. "Not really. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to be rude. I just—if I wanna call Karkat, I have to do it before my first class. Which is in twenty minutes."

"Oh—okay, yeah, I can give you the abridged version," she said. She wanted to help loosen some of Kankri's tight strings. They finished the lesson up in nine minutes.

"Oh, shoot, no, no, no no no no no..." Kankri's face flashed with panic, and he dropped into the seat beside Aranea. "Fffff..." he puffed as he stifled an expletive. 

"What?" Aranea said. 

"My battery is dead," he replied flatly.

Before he could get too upset, Aranea offered, "Here. Take mine. It's on full charge."

"But—the long distance fee..."

"It's nothing," she said, still holding her cell out to him. "You can calculate it and pay me back in cents, if you really want to. But I don't care."

Kankri tentatively took her phone. He dialed Karkat's cell number without hesitation in punching in the digits. Kankri walked away towards the shelves for some privacy, and Aranea tried to distract herself with a book. 

Kankri listened as a familiar gravelly, confused voice pick up on the other end. 

"Hello?"

"Hi! Karkat, it's me. Kankri. I'm calling from a friend's phone."

"Oh. That's why I didn't recognize the number," he said, slow and slightly drowsy. 

"So—how, how are you doing?" he asked awkwardly. 

"Uh—did Dad tell you?"

Kankri nodded, then, realizing the gesture was lost to the receiver, said, "Yes. He called last night. Are you feeling OK?"

"Yeah, it was nothing, really. I'll be home in a few days, I think, after they get my levels back to normal."

"Oh, that's good..." Kankri said, lost for further comment. There were a few moments of dead air until the conversation picked up again. "I just wanted to make sure, and, y'know—I miss you and Dad so much. I wish I could just come home and see you."

"I bet you just miss Dad's cooking," Karkat replied with a snicker. 

"Heh. That too," Kankri replied, smiling sadly. "Easter break isn't so far away though, right? I'll see you then?"

"Yeah. Can't wait for you to be home again."

"Me neither," he said. "Well, uh—listen, Karkat, I've got to be in class in five minutes, but I'll try to call you when I get out, if it's before seven o'clock where you are. Alright?" He went to hang up the phone when he heard a mumble come from the speaker.

"Alright. I'm—"

"What? I didn't catch that last, Karkat, sorry," he said, quickly returning the receiver to his ear.

"I said, I'm really glad you called. Honestly, I thought you’d be caught up."

That last broke Kankri's heart. "I _wouldn't_ get caught up, I'm your brother," he said indignantly. "Family first, right? Isn't that what Dad always says?"

"Right...heh."

"So, I'll be calling you shortly?" Kankri said. 

"Yeah. T-T-Y-L, Kancrab."

"Uh—talk to you later, _right_ , I will soon," Kankri said, flustered a bit. "Bye, Karkat."

"Bye."

"Feel better—" he added as Karkat hung up. Kankri slowly lowered the phone from his ear and returned to the table. He handed Aranea back her cell. "Thanks," he said awkwardly.

"Yeah, no problem," Aranea replied. 

The morning light was streaming in through the huge glass windows into the spacious room on the top floor of the library. Kankri, preparing for his morning class, began silently clearing off his things from the library table. As he shoved papers into his binder and textbooks into his messenger bag, Aranea forced her eyes to remained fixed on her notebook and _not_ on Kankri.

She fought the urge to cry. She and Kankri never _did_ hit it off. Aranea knew then that they never would. He was romantically celibate, for shit's sake. She was dumb to think that he would _ever_ be interested in her. She was being selfish, too—since Kankri clearly had so much to deal with already—and _egocentric_ to be wanting his attention—

"Aranea." She felt a hand gently shake her shoulder, and she spun around in her seat. Kankri was standing behind her, as if he had been trying to get her attention for a while. He looked nervous. "I'm—I'm sorry if I startled you," he said anxiously. "I just wanted to say thanks—you’ve been great to me." Before Aranea could respond, Kankri had skittered away from the table with his chin tucked down .

Aranea—didn't know what to think.

Kankri had touched her. On the shoulder. Even though that was _exactly_ the kind of thing everyone knew made him uncomfortable. He didn't do that to just anybody— _right?_

She certainly wasn't Meenah. She would never be Meenah. Hell, this kind of thing didn't happen to girls like Meenah. But girls like Meenah also didn’t get the chance to speak with shy troll boys in adorable red sweaters majoring in social justice. 

So for a little bit, she thought being Aranea Serket was okay.

**Author's Note:**

> All thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated!


End file.
